Dumped my Fisker Karma

8148 Views 26 Replies 15 Participants Last post by TexasDavid, Feb 21, 2013

atiquester

Discussion Starter · Jan 23, 2013

Hello All -

After getting our Inferno Red Karma EcoSport with Tritone Interior in March 2012...today I traded it towards an Audi S8!

It was the right thing to do! Amazing how little money you get for the car...as I purchased it originally at MSRP of $110K....and they will low ball ya around early 70s or high 60s. I know!!!

Nice design and beautiful looks... that's basically my experience with the product. I still like it... but its a shame that the product dropped like a rock...especially now that new Karmas are available at $10K off MSRP and then another $7,500 Tax credit...

It was time to move to a fully functional (Google Maps, Audi Connect, Bluetooth, Navigation, Real-time Traffic, Accicent Reports etc etc) 'six figure' car like Audi S8!

Its was right thing to do...I had my fun and it cost a steep $35,000 ... LOL!

A

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

AnOutsider

· #2 · Jan 23, 2013

You might get flamed (especially having "Lambo" in your signature), but as a fellow Audi owner, you'll love it! I considered the Audi S7 over the Model S (and the RS7 is even more tempting!), but the S8 is a beast and the in-car tech is top notch.

Curious, your sig lists 2 Karmas. Did you get both?

Fabulist

· #3 · Jan 23, 2013

atiquester said:
Hello All -

After getting our Inferno Red Karma EcoSport with Tritone Interior in March 2012...today I traded it towards an Audi S8!

It was the right thing to do! Amazing how little money you get for the car...as I purchased it originally at MSRP of $110K....and they will low ball ya around early 70s or high 60s. I know!!!

Nice design and beautiful looks... that's basically my experience with the product. I still like it... but its a shame that the product dropped like a rock...especially now that new Karmas are available at $10K off MSRP and then another $7,500 Tax credit...

It was time to move to a fully functional (Google Maps, Audi Connect, Bluetooth, Navigation, Real-time Traffic, Accicent Reports etc etc) 'six figure' car like Audi S8!

Its was right thing to do...I had my fun and it cost a steep $35,000 ... LOL!

A

Always sad to see a fellow owner move on, but the Audi S8 is definitely a great conventional choice. It's too bad you lost so much value but the dealers hose you on trade-ins, so what are you going to do?

I am also curious if you ever got the second Karma, I am guessing not, but if you feel like telling us, please do so.

Best of luck with the Audi.

Sigurd

· #4 · Jan 23, 2013

I like your attitude. I wish you luck with the Audi. The Karma is definitely not for everyone, but you gave it an honest shot. You had a nice list of features you appreciate and that the Karma did not deliver so moving to a car that does is certainly prudent. Sorry you sold it at such a loss. I also like your choice in alternative drives.
I can relate to AnOutsider's Lambo comment, and with "Dumped my Fisker Karma" as your heading, I hope you have your flame-suit on. You might be wished homeless soon. But honestly, best of luck. Karmas might not catch the best trade in value right now, but mine is not for sale so it's not all that important to me.

Laguna

· #5 · Jan 23, 2013

Ouch, this hurts, to trade in a Fisker for an Audi of all brands available.
They are on top of the my "most boring design list".

Really doesn't match the Aston and Lambo in your garage, which not being for fisker would be on top of my wish list.

But ok,

SoCalGuy

· #6 · Jan 23, 2013

Most of us here didn't buy the Karma for trade-in value... assuming it continues to work with no issues (knock on wood), will be in my garage forever.

Fabulist

· #7 · Jan 23, 2013

Sigurd said:
I can relate to AnOutsider's Lambo comment, and with "Dumped my Fisker Karma" as your heading, I hope you have your flame-suit on. You might be wished homeless soon.

I am a little saddened by the flaming predictions. I personally have nothing but respect for someone who spent his hard-earned money to get a Karma, drove it for a full year, including through some trying times with software issues, and then decided to take a substantial financial hit to get the exact car he wants even if that car is not a Karma. We have all been there at one time or another, and there is nothing to criticize or to flame.

Best of luck and happy driving.

Fabulist

· #8 · Jan 23, 2013 (Edited)

SoCalGuy said:
Most of us here didn't buy the Karma for trade-in value... assuming it continues to work with no issues (knock on wood), will be in my garage forever.

:thumbup: I feel the same way. :thumbup:

Except of cours, if and when there is a Karma convertible.

Sigurd

· #9 · Jan 23, 2013

Fabulist said:
I am a little saddened by the flaming predictions. I personally have nothing but respect for someone who spent his hard-earned money to get a Karma, drove it for a full year, including through some trying times with software issues, and then decided to take a substantial financial hit to get the exact car he wants even if that car is not a Karma. We have all been there at one time or another, and there is nothing to criticize or to flame.

Best of luck and happy driving.

I also wish him nothing but luck, but WOJO was wished homeless for selling his car and that is what I alluded (and probably AnOutsider too) to. I agree, I think people have the right to buy and sell their cars at will and shouldn't be flamed for it.
Cheers,

LonePalmBJ

· #10 · Jan 23, 2013

Atique,

Sorry to see you leave the world of Fisker but I'm sure I'll see you again soon at another C&O. Can't wait to see the S8. I had the chance to take an earlier gen S8 around the track at Road Atlanta. It was impressive!

Brent

atiquester

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 26, 2013

Hi Guys -

Thanks for your comments. I did not buy the second Karma. The Inferno was the only one..and as shared I absolutely loved it. I also got rid of my old Lambo BiColore and just got a 2013 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Stradale in Rosso Mars color, in addition decided to get the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed as well. Its nice to enjoy the new year with new toys as life is too short

My wife was rather emotional about the Karma... but the Audi ...The Audi is sooooo smooth and shifts so amazingly! The power is out of this world and that Carbon Fiber everywhere inside with Night Navigation, Park Assist and and all the Sound Options... what an amazing daily driver.

Everything works in it

calikarma

· #12 · Jan 26, 2013

trading it in

I am considering trading in the car my self, there are more problems then I would like. For the price I paid there should not be this much issues, I spend more time at the dealer then enjoying it. Here some example, the most annoying thing about the car is the blue tooth "com'on you guys Acura have an awesome system then this Karma so easy to use, the gas engine sound like an old Pinto, the muffler is so loud over the radio I want to pull my hair out. Lets not forget all the uneven part of the car, and the weather strip on the inside the door I asked them to fix it they said that Fisker recommend they pull it off because it was not needed after it fell off several times. Shall I go on. I regret that I bought it!

Have anyone had the engine fix to eliminate noise and it was a success.

replace, the muffler was replace the gas engine sound like an 10 years old car.

atiquester said:
Hello All -

After getting our Inferno Red Karma EcoSport with Tritone Interior in March 2012...today I traded it towards an Audi S8!

It was the right thing to do! Amazing how little money you get for the car...as I purchased it originally at MSRP of $110K....and they will low ball ya around early 70s or high 60s. I know!!!

Nice design and beautiful looks... that's basically my experience with the product. I still like it... but its a shame that the product dropped like a rock...especially now that new Karmas are available at $10K off MSRP and then another $7,500 Tax credit...

It was time to move to a fully functional (Google Maps, Audi Connect, Bluetooth, Navigation, Real-time Traffic, Accicent Reports etc etc) 'six figure' car like Audi S8!

Its was right thing to do...I had my fun and it cost a steep $35,000 ... LOL!

A

Michael

· #13 · Jan 26, 2013

mine works perfectly

Sigurd

· #14 · Jan 26, 2013

Everything I use on my car works perfectly. I have absolutely no complaints about my Karma. It is now 13 months old and my daily driver. I average around 250mpg and only charge it at home. I fill it up once every 2 to 3 months. I hardly ever hear the engine and when I do, it is not any worse than any other car I have. The Karma is as reliable as any other exotic I have ever owned. It is much more comfortable than any other exotic I have owned. It has definitely exceeded my expectations.

ufojoe

· #15 · Jan 26, 2013

Ditto for me, Sigurd.....

Fabulist

· #16 · Jan 26, 2013

Hang in there ...

calikarma said:
I am considering trading in the car my self, there are more problems then I would like. For the price I paid there should not be this much issues, I spend more time at the dealer then enjoying it. Here some example, the most annoying thing about the car is the blue tooth "com'on you guys Acura have an awesome system then this Karma so easy to use, the gas engine sound like an old Pinto, the muffler is so loud over the radio I want to pull my hair out. Lets not forget all the uneven part of the car, and the weather strip on the inside the door I asked them to fix it they said that Fisker recommend they pull it off because it was not needed after it fell off several times. Shall I go on. I regret that I bought it!

Have anyone had the engine fix to eliminate noise and it was a success.

replace, the muffler was replace the gas engine sound like an 10 years old car.

@Calikarma:

If you are spending a lot of time at the dealer, you are most likely on the latest version of the software (510), still it would be worthwhile to have the dealer check to make sure that all the various modules have been correctly updated. There has been at least one case of the battery control software module not being correctly updated during a system update, leading to problems. So, at a minimum, your dealer should be able to check every module to make sure they are the latest version and that the versions match.

Regarding BT, Karma's system, in my experience, is somewhere in the middle. I have seen better (MB) and worse (Jaguar). The trick to using the BT in the Karma is to keep the volume on the PHONE as low as possible and then using the volume control on the steering wheel to control it. It seems, with Iphones anyway, that the feedback pretty much goes away if the volume on the PHONE is set very low. Here, again, it is critical to make sure you have the most current software because the BT quality has improved significantly since the car came out.

The engine noise is annoying and there is only so much the dealers can do. This is a bit of trial-and-error process. The dealers can bend the heat shield away from other components to reduce the more annoying resonant noises and ameliorate the noise, but ultimately the engine noise is the least refined part of the Karma, and you need to apply the Click-and-Clack fix of cranking up the radio louder to mask the noise.

Best of luck and hope that at least some of this information was at least new-ish. Hope to see you stay in the club.

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Laguna

· #17 · Jan 26, 2013

I have had some small issues, but generally very happy with the car.

and yesterday Fisker Nederland announced they will make a special Dutch version, which will bring the CO2 levels down a tiny bit, so it will just drop into the lowest tax bracket, meaning 0 tax!

They will also modify the Karma's already on the road, which will result in paying 0 EURO's per year instead of around EUR 8000 per year in company car tax.

This will help Karma sales a lot in Holland.

Naturally Fisker can also calculate how beneficial this is for us company car drivers, so they charge over EUR 6000 for what in my view is not much more than a software update.

but spending 6000 euro company money to save 8000 euro private money per year still is a good deal.

Weird Fishes

· #18 · Jan 26, 2013

I love my Karma. I've had it for 4 months, and have driven it every day. It is gorgeous. It is reliable. It gets LOADS of attention.

I've had my Karma for 4 months. I absolutely love it. It is reliable. It is gorgeous. It gets loads of attention. It's great fun to drive. And, best of all, I've had to fill the tank only once in almost 1500 miles!

I've had 3 small problems, all quickly and easily repaired by my dealer. My only real complaint is that playing music via Bluetooth or the USB port is imperfect--occasionally the sound drops out for a beat or two or the song skips. Otherwise, the car is rock solid.

ct-fiskerbuzz

· #19 · Jan 26, 2013

Mine works well. Since the latest software I've had a few random software type glitches, such as seat heat not coming on once (it recovered on its own, without a reboot, which was particularly weird), bluetooth phone issues several times (most recent: select "fisker karma" on Android phone as output device and the phone hesitates for a moment and then goes back to using its own speaker), and ipod reverting to "usb" once (with repeated plug/unplug cycles in an attempt to get it to come back, the ipod itself wedged and had to be rebooted (!) which is not itself a Karma bug). Also the dropped sound data packet now and then (I think that's what it is) is still there.

The glitches are annoying, but the car itself is still way more fun to drive than anything else, and all the glitches are minor. People still want to talk about the car all the time too ("what IS that?" etc). Last night one guy said he thought it was a Bentley at first, which seems a bit odd to me, it doesn't look very Bentley-like to me.

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Sigurd

· #20 · Jan 26, 2013

ct- you just made me smile. I like people with a scientific truth. Your list of "random software type glitches" is awesome. I spent 40 hours driving my Chrysler T&C to and from Colorado with dog and crap my wife felt needed to go to/come from our ski condo and I can make you a similar list. At time I got warnings similar to "back up sensors need service" and "lane change sensors not operative" (don't know the exact verbiage as I ignored them) seemed to be the norm. A lot of warnings, etc. seem to be more of a "keep an eye on" than a real threat. So often, and in the case of my T&C they all went away on their own.

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

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